Steve Nunn

A recent press article highlighted the best and the worst of rural broadband provision across Norfolk and Waveney – read all about it at https://bit.ly/2R0WtE9 . It served to reinforce the fact that internet provision not only fluctuates wildly across the county but, in many locations, simply doesn’t exist at all.

Whilst commendable efforts are being made by public services to increase and accelerate the level of provision, many households and businesses are simply unable to use the internet in the way it’s intended to be used – for sending and downloading documentation, research and information needed to complete everything from strategic business plans and international sales to school and college homework.

Many broadband users have found the answer in ThinkingWISP, which is well-established, reliable, dependable and sends its signal out from its Norwich base via a series of relay transmitters across the region.

ThinkingWISP is twenty-first century technology – it simply does away with the need for cables. All that’s needed is a small receiver device on the house or work premises, with an uninterrupted ‘line of sight’ for the signal. Have a look at our ‘How it works’ page to find out more!

An innovative South Norfolk community venue is celebrating the first anniversary of the installation of state-of-the art broadband on its premises.

Visitors to Morley Village and Sports Hall can now access twenty-first century standard fast broadband courtesy of ThinkingWISP.

“The ThinkingWISP installation is a major step forward for our venue” said Corinna Pharaoh, Chair for Morley Village and Sports Hall. “Having broadband will enable us to attract more customers and a more varied group of people looking to hire us because we have wi-fi. Not a lot of halls or spaces like ours have it. We hope to attract business who will be able to hire the venue for workshops and sales presentations, which require good internet access. A building of this size has quite a lot of running costs so the more clients we can attract, the better. Many of them need internet access to support the activities they are doing and will ask if there is wi-fi access before booking.”

Morley Village and Sports Hall already offers a wide range of recreational facilities, including a 12-line climbing wall managed by South Norfolk Climbing Club, that has proved popular with the local and surrounding communities, and a main hall that can accommodate up to 250 people.

Many businesses and households across Norfolk are in urgent need of acceptably fast broadband speeds, and community venues are increasingly finding that users of their facilities require a good signal for their mobile devices. It’s especially a problem for rural areas because whilst, in England as a whole, 17% of the population lives in rural areas, in Norfolk it’s 53%.

“Although great progress has been made by public services in extending broadband provision across Norfolk, there are still some 10 per-cent of areas that can’t receive a signal” explained CAN Chief Executive Jon Clemo.

“ThinkingWISP is twenty-first century technology – it does away with the need for cables. Usually, the final connection between your property and the network relies on very old technology, designed for ‘phone calls and not much else but ThinkingWISP uses radio waves, which means the signal doesn’t degrade.”

Steve Temple, Managing Director of InTouch, explained the technical side of ThinkingWISP “We transmit our broadband signal via our masts sited all across the region, beaming the signal to our customers’ homes and business premises. All we need is line-of-sight between the mast and an aerial receiver. You don’t even need a land-line connection in many cases.”

Councillor Michael Edney, deputy leader of South Norfolk Council said: “A decent broadband service is essential in nearly every aspect of our modern lives and today nearly 70% of the contact we have with our residents is online. We understand the frustration that some of our businesses and homeowners feel about the speed of their broadband connections and that’s why we’re determined to be the first rural district in the region to offer 100% super-fast broadband coverage.”

At a village hall meeting in Norfolk recently, asked how important it was to the government that rural homes were connected, Digital Minister Matt Hancock said: “We think it is critical…everybody needs to have broadband and broadband is vital.” http://bit.ly/2FABtfj (EDP 24 Feb 2018).

With ThinkingWISP you don’t have to wait 2 years!

The assurances fall in line with the Universal Service Obligation of access to superfast broadband announced by the government last year, which gives people a legal right to superfast broadband.

And Environment minister Michael Gove spoke of concerns about lack of broadband at a national farmers’ conference. Highlighting it as being “of critical interest and vital benefit” he stated that the £60 billion bill from the HS2 rail project is “30 times as much as it would cost to provide universal superfast broadband” adding “Surely investment in broadband is just as vital and urgent a part of improving our critical national infrastructure?”

Fast broadband is important to individuals, families and businesses who live in areas not yet reached by conventional networks – and great efforts are being made to roll out fast broadband across Norfolk – but what can those without do in the meantime?

Check out ThinkingWISP, that’s what. Read the information, see how it works, and decide for yourself. No wires, no cables.

We hear a lot in the media about broadband in some parts of the country being very slow.

But many places in Norfolk can’t get any broadband at all.

Households and businesses in every Norfolk community know that faster, reliable internet connections are important to personal and workplace communications. Just as new roads, sea routes, railways and air travel opened up new markets and economic opportunities in previous centuries, the 21st century trade route is the internet. Commendably, the Better Broadband for Norfolk campaign has taken superfast from 42% of homes and businesses in 2012 to 88%.

That still, however, leaves a core of localities who cannot receive broadband at all.

ThinkingWISP is the answer for many. It uses radio waves, so consumers don’t need to wait for cable to reach their community. The signal starts with a high-speed fibre optic connection, which is then beamed via transmitter masts sited across Norfolk to small aerials affixed to the customer’s property. And the signal is encrypted, so data is safe.

Have a look at ‘How it works’ on our website. Then give us a call. to find out if ThinkingWISP can work for you.

Lack of fast broadband and the problem of digital exclusion mean that many businesses and households in rural Norfolk are in urgent need of reliable internet speeds.

A recently-announced programme from five district councils across Norfolk, matched by central government, aims to provide superfast broadband to 95% of all premises in Norfolk by 2020. 87% of the county’s households and businesses can presently access a service of 24 Mbs or more, but Cliff Jordan, Leader of Norfolk County Council, says they “won’t be satisfied” until everyone in Norfolk can access a good broadband service.

At the recent regional Digital Divide Conference, attended by supporters of wireless internet provision, Digital Minister Matthew Hancock that how digital connections are achieved was less important than that they are achieved.

Nationally the roll-out is on track for 95% of all premises to be connected to fast broadband – but Norfolk is behind at 87% and so a focus on the practical solutions is needed. In particular, rural areas with no broadband need to be prioritised over other, perhaps urban, areas that are already connected but want improvement.

As the Minister put it: “What customers care about is connectivity.”

What then if you need fast broadband now to enable your business to compete in national and international markets, for your children’s homework, or to access on-line health and public service information? ThinkingWISP is the 21st century answer. ThinkingWISP transmits its broadband signal across Norfolk via a network of masts, avoiding the weak link – cables. There’s no need to wait for the latest fibre cable to come to the end of your road. And you don’t even need a landline!

Many areas of rural Norfolk are still in urgent need of acceptably fast and reliable internet access.

Your business might be needing to compete in national and international markets, your children have to do their homework on-line, or you might find that essential health and public service information is increasingly available only on the internet.

Government and local councils hope to connect 95% of Norfolk locations by 2020. That’s three years away, and at present just 87% of the county’s businesses and households are able to access super-fast broadband. A government minister recently said that how digital connections are achieved is less important than that they are achieved.

ThinkingWISP is the 21st century answer. ThinkingWISP transmits its broadband signal across and beyond Norfolk via a network of masts, It avoids the weak link in the chain – cables. So there’s no need to wait for the latest fibre cable to arrive at the end of your road; and you don’t even need a ‘phone landline.

The government’s Broadband Universal Obligation aims for superfast broadband of at least 24 Mbps available to 95% of homes and businesses in the UK by the end of 2017 but, whilst efforts are being made to roll out broadband to all areas of Norfolk, it will take time – probably years.

You don’t have to gaze out of your window, however, watching for the long-awaited cable connection that never seems to arrive. ThinkingWISP doesn’t need cable, wires or micro-fibres. ThinkingWISPuses 21st-century wireless connectivity via an impressive network of masts, generating faster broadband speeds and banishing the weakest link in broadband delivery – the copper wire which joins the consumer’s home or business with the street cabinet.

So there is an easy and practical solution for many households and businesses in hard-to-reach parts of the county. Contact us to find out if ThinkingWISP could work for you.

Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) extends the use of fibre optic cable from the exchange to the green boxes (cabinets) you see in the street. In many locations the distance between you and the cabinet can be considerable. And if your cabinet serves a lot of properties or you share with many other people, you can end up with a poor service.

Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) takes the fibre optic cable as far as your home or workplace. This provides most users with more than enough speed well into the future – but connecting a fibre optic cable to every property is expensive and can be disruptive.

Wireless internet Service Providers (WISP) – that’s us – have fibre optic cables going to our masts and then beam the signal to your property. This wireless signal doesn’t degrade like copper cables do and there’s no interference. The only limitation is that we have to be able to get our signal to you. Check our coverage map to see if you could benefit and give our 30 day money back guarantee a go.

Not all broadband is created equal – you get what you pay for. Providers often quote large download speeds that, frankly, under-perform because of the number of people sharing the bandwidth

Not long ago, the family computer would sit in a corner and be our sole gateway to the online world. Now, games consoles, phones, tablets, laptops and TVs use the internet. It all uses bandwidth. Well, we believe quality and reliability matter. ThinkingWISP guarantees 75% of the advertised speed even at peak times.

Save money

ThinkingWISP is wireless, so you don’t even need a landline! That’s a saving of £215 a year (based on BT’s £17.99 a month line rental price correct at Dec 2015). More and more people are ‘cord cutting’, using mobiles instead of landlines or internet-based systems like Skype.

21st Century technology

Unless you have cable or a very expense fibre connection, the technology that connects you directly to the internet is still basically copper cables that date back to 1877. This was fine for crackly voice calls but just isn’t fit for purpose for information super-highway. As ThinkingWISP is wireless you don’t need cables.

Not all broadband is created equal and you get what you pay for. Providers often hide behind large download speed numbers but constantly under-perform. The main reason is contention; the number of people you share your bandwidth with. You might have 100 mb/s but if you have to share it with 100 people that’s just 1mb each. We guarantee 75% of the advertised speed even at peak times.

2) Save money – no land line needed

ThinkingWISP is wireless – so you don’t need a land line. That’s a saving of £215 a year (based on BT’s £17.99 a month line rental price as at Dec ’15). An increasing number of people are ‘cord cutting’, using mobiles instead of landlines or internet phone systems like Skype. Why not do the same and save money whilst still getting the benefit of a fast high quality broadband service?

3) 21st Century technology

Unless you live in cable area or have a very expense fibre-to-the-premises connection, the technology that connects you to the internet is still copper cable that date back to 1877. This was fine for crackly voice calls but just isn’t fit for purpose when it comes to the information super-highway. As ThinkingWISP is wireless we don’t face the restrictions of this archaic technology, and are able to provide you with fast local broadband in places where others simply can’t.

Thinking wisp is a trading name for Thinking Rural CIC (Company No. 06361946)

This project has been supported by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) is funded by DEFRA and the EU. RDPE is delivered through DEFRA. EU Rural Development site